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greenfield deployment

By Gavin Wright

What is greenfield deployment?

A greenfield deployment is the design, installation and configuration of computer infrastructure where none existed before, for example, in a new office. In contrast, a brownfield deployment is an upgrade or addition to existing infrastructure using legacy components.

Greenfield deployments are also called greenfield projects. They can be a computer network, website, software package, cloud software, telecom or data center installations that don't use previously developed infrastructure. The terms greenfield and brownfield come from construction, with greenfield being new, undeveloped grassland and brownfield being land that is already built on.

When to consider greenfield deployment strategies

As an organization grows and matures, its need for computer resources increases. The rapid pace change in IT can also render legacy systems no longer cost-effective or obsolete. These forces make it beneficial for organizations to periodically examine their existing systems with an eye toward deploying new infrastructure with greenfield deployment opportunities.

A period of expansion, such as when expanding a factory or adding a data center, is a great time to consider the value of starting from scratch. The development and launch of a new product, the acquisition of another company and an overall digital transformation effort are also good opportunities to consider greenfield deployments.

Types of greenfield projects in IT

There are several different types of greenfield deployments. They include the following:

Advantages of greenfield deployments

There are several advantages to doing a greenfield deployment, including the following:

Disadvantages of greenfield projects

Greenfield deployments aren't without their challenges. The following ones are among them:

Greenfield deployment isn't always the right way to go. Learn more about legacy system modernization in our comprehensive guide.

02 Mar 2022

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